Star Wars: Visionaries
Star Wars: Visionaries is a 2005 collection of 11 stories written and drawn by concept artists who worked on the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The book is published by Dark Horse Comics and edited by Jeremy Barlow. Contents ''Old Wounds'' :Story and Art: Aaron McBride :13 pages :Galactic Year: 16 BBY :Preceded by: The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to be Underestimated :Followed by: The Destroyer The opening story, "Old Wounds" by Aaron McBride, is set in "the third year Imperial Occupation" and begins with Owen Lars trying to teach new words to a toddler-age Luke Skywalker. They see a strange figure on the horizon running towards the Lars homestead, and Owen instructs his wife Beru to bring him his rifle and take the boy inside. The figure dodges warning shots with ease and uses the Force to disarm Owen before smashing the weapon over his head. Standing on triple-jointed droid legs and concealed by a dark hood, the figure calls out through the Force to an unseen enemy. The voice claims to have been tracking this adversary for years, just missing him by two days on Kamino one day on Geonosis and only a few minutes on Mustafar. He had then killed witnesses on Polis Massa before finally gaining crucial information on Mos Espa from an aged Watto, whom he beheads for his greed. The creature declares that he knows threatening Luke would bring his adversary out into the open, to which the hidden voice finally asks through the Force, "Does Palpatine know?" The cyborg-legged monster replies, "No. There is no Palpatine. No Empire. No Jedi. There is no Light. No Dark... Just you and I here now." At this point, Obi-Wan Kenobi bursts out from the sand. The dark figure casts off his hood and reveals himself to be Darth Maul, his severed lower body replaced by a pair of large cybernetic legs and abdomen, and his cranial horns having grown, crown-like, to over three times their original length. Kenobi and Maul engage in furious combat, in which Maul loses a further arm and four horns before being held at Kenobi's mercy. With his lightsaber hilt to Maul's forehead and his finger on the blade-ignition button, Kenobi hesitates to execute his helpless opponent, but has the decision taken out of his hands when the revived Owen blows the former Sith's head apart with his damaged rifle. ''The Artist of Naboo'' :Story and Art: Erik Tiemens :12 pages :Galactic Year: 19 BBY :Preceded by: Revenge of the Sith :Followed by: Sithisis ''Wat Tambor and the Quest for the Sacred Eye of the Albino Cyclops'' :Story and Art: Mike Murnane :13 pages :Galactic Year: 19 BBY :Preceded by: Brothers in Arms :Followed by: The Brink ''Sithisis'' :Story and Art: Derek Thompson :14 pages :Galactic Year: 19 BBY :Preceded by: The Artist of Naboo :Followed by: Orders ''Entrenched'' :Story M. Zachary Sherman :Art: Alex Jaeger :12 pages :Galactic Year: 3 ABY :Preceded by: Tag and Bink Are Dead 2 :Followed by: Blind Fury This tells the story of the Battle of Hoth in the eyes of a young Rebel soldier, Corporal Jobin Mothma. He has recorded a holographic message for his mother, and the words in his message parallel the events in the story. The Rebel troops prepare for the Imperial assault, and the Empire unloads AT-ATs and Juggernauts. Jobin fights in the trenches with his squad. One of his men spots a group of snowtroopers and an AT-ST advancing on the Rebellion's Planetary ion cannon. After attempting to reach Ion Control, he and four of his men rush to outflank the AT-ST. Meanwhile, the snowtroopers inside the now-captured emplacement listen to Rebel requests for ion support. The Rebels burst in. They dispatch the Imperials, losing a squad member. When Jobin fires the cannon, his men set it to self-destruct. The three remaining troops retreat to Hangar Bay Seven, only to find Darth Vader and his troops. Jobin and his squad retreat to Hangar Bay Ten, but Jobin is shot. He gives his recorded message to one of his men. Darth Vader briefly interrogates him, but he doesn't talk. Vader kills him. Mon Mothma, apparently Jobin's mother, reads Jobin's letter at the Rebel rendezvous point near Sullust. Crix Madine tells her he's dead. She then goes to brief the Rebels for the Battle of Endor, with resolve in the words: "The emperor has made a critical error.". ''The Fourth Precept'' :Story and Art: Stephen Martiniére :6 pages The Fourth Precept is an artistic representation of the fight between good and evil. Two figures fight with lightsabers in various ethereal settings. It has no dialogue. ''Prototypes'' :Story and Art: Robert E. Barnes :12 pages :Galactic Year: 132 BBY :Preceded by: The Apprentice :Followed by: Heart of Darkness ''Imperial Recruitment'' :Story and Art: Feng Zhu :2 pages Imperial Recruitment is a series of beautiful, scantily-clad human women in various military scenes with slogans urging citizens to enlist in the Imperial Navy. ''Deep Forest'' :Story and Art: Sang Jun Lee :14 pages :Galactic Year: 21 BBY :Preceded by: Rather Darkness Visible :Followed by: The Battle of Jabiim A Wookiee hunting expedition in the jungles of Kashyyyk becomes something far more dangerous than expected when a young warrior discovers a Separatist invasion force. ''Celestia Galactica Photografica'' :Art: Ryan Church :12 pages Celestia Galactica Photografica consists of a series of paintings depicting various scenes of the Galaxy; in terms of canonicity, they are in-universe paintings made by in-universe artists. ''The Eyes of Revolution'' :Story and Art: Warren J. Fu :14 pages :Galactic Year: 23 BBY :Preceded by: Way of the Warrior :Followed by: Full of Surprises On Kalee, a Kaleesh General named Qymaen jai Sheelal boarded a shuttle to fight against the Huk. A device was planted on the shuttle, and Darth Tyranus watched him through electrobinoculars as the shuttle exploded. Sheelal fell from the burning wreckage into the water below. Two Magna Guards were sent to pull the legless general out of the water, and a medical droid checked his vitals. Tyranus administered a heart stun to keep Sheelal briefly alive and ordered the droids to transport the Kaleesh to Geonosis immediately, declaring him ready for experimentation. Sheelal awakened in a tube full of green liquid, and was greeted by San Hill. Hill told him an InterGalactic Banking Clan frigate recovered the General's escape pod and brought him to Geonosis. Sheelal wanted to go back to Kalee to be with his troops, but Hill told him he wouldn't survive the trip, and proposed an experimental new treatment. Sheelal was interested in getting back, and was apathetic towards the Separatist "New Order". Qymaen accepted the offer, but Dooku sensed shallowness in his allegiance, and ordered Poggle the Lesser to leave him in the tank for a while longer. Count Dooku then showed the Archduke his old friend Sifo-Dyas, who was cryogenically preserved. Months later, Dooku gave Sheelal Sifo-Dyas's lightsaber as a gift. Dooku reported to Darth Sidious, saying that the experiment was successful. Qymaen lost his carnality, but still had anger, vanity, and a good mind for strategy. The newly christened General Grievous, enraged at being called a droid, used his new lightsaber to kill all of the Magna Guards surrounding him. External links * Star Wars: Visionaries at Dark Horse Comics. * Category:2005 comic debuts Category:Dark Horse Comics graphic novels Visionaries